The next part of the test is where he gives me two different things, and I have to say the similarities between them.

First up, a bicycle and a car.

Okay, that seems simple enough. They both have wheels. They both are a mode of transportation. (We could keep going if need be, but that more than covers what he needs.)

Then he asks about the similarities between a tree and a fly. I start with, “Well, they both have things that have grown out of their back/sides – wings on a fly, and branches on a tree.

He asks if there are anymore.

Sure, there must be more. Most open questions like these have tons of possibilities if you think a little deeper… As I’m figuring out what thought process/path I should follow, I ask if there’s an obvious thing I’m missing. He says no, it’s the hardest question he’s asked.

I’m trying to be pretty quick still. So I blurt out, “They both need oxygen to survive.” And then I stop myself. “Or wait… Trees get carbon dioxide. Maybe I don’t understand how plants work…” Then we laugh as he says, “Well, you just corrected yourself. So, yeah, you do.”

Then I said both of their main habitats are outdoors.

(I know they’re both indoors sometimes (e.g. Christmas trees, and flies people swat in the kitchen). But you know, mainly they’re outdoors.)

He said that answer would work. He said technically the answer is they’re both alive. But since I was dancing around it and still found things they had in common, I got a check mark on that one. All right.

Another tree picture, ’cause why not?

Then it was off to naming stuff. Simple enough.

Name 3 big cities in the US – New York (my favorite one, so of course the one I think of first), L.A. (I mean, we’re right here).

And then my brain is flipping through so many cities. What is technically the next biggest city? For some reason, I felt like it was a cheat or cop out to list yet another city I’d lived in (such as Boston). Although if I did it for the first two, I don’t know why that would’ve been any different.

Also, there were no constraints on the answers. So, I’m sure it would’ve been fine. Nonetheless, I thought, “I gotta get to a non-Aurora city here!” I’m always hearing about how big Texas is, and how it’s often overlooked in the big/cool place category, in favor of California and New York. So, I go for a city in Texas.

(This thought process is happening really fast. Don’t worry. I’m not sitting there with my mouth gaping wide during the time it’s taking me to explain all this to you.) Anyway, I say San Antonio. I ask if that’s big enough. He says definitely.

Later, I looked it up. Chicago would’ve been a better answer with 2.7 million residents. There was even a bigger city within Texas – Houston, with 2.1 million residents. San Antonio has 1.3 million, and is 7th on the list of most populous cities in the U.S. (or at least it was according to the 2010 census).

Anyway, I wasn’t told to list the 3 most populous U.S. cities – just 3 big ones (which I guess could’ve technically been physical land/square miles as well, since that could also mean big – so, conceivably I could’ve had totally different answers).

Anyway, population seemed like a normal way to think about it. And I think listing 3 of the most populous cities within the top 10 of all the bajillions we have in America is fine. Yeah?

This is a little stressful, huh? But it’s almost over – which is where I’ll pick up next time.